Why: The prehearing conference will assess the parties' (staff, applicant, and intervenors) readiness for the evidentiary hearing. The committee will identify areas of agreement or dispute, set the schedule for the presentation of testimony, and discuss the schedule and procedures needed to conclude the certification process.

The purpose of the evidentiary hearing is to establish the factual record upon which the Commission will decide the case, based on written or documentary evidence from the official parties to the proceeding.

The topics that the hearing will address will be the impact of three projects proposed by San Diego Gas & Electric on cumulative impacts and alternatives analysis; grid reliability issues raised by the California Independent System Operator; the Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit needed from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about the project's ability to meet federal clean-air standards; financial concerns raised by the applicant about two land use conditions in the Presiding Member's Proposed Decision (PMPD) that lay out the process to plan, permit, and pay for the removal of the Encina Power Station when it is no longer needed; and recent land use amendments made by the city of Carlsbad.

The committee conference will be held to conduct committee deliberations in closed session. No testimony will be taken. The committee plans to start the open meeting, take public comment, and then go into closed session. The meeting will be reopened to announce the conclusion of the closed session before adjourning.

What: The Carlsbad Energy Center Project is a natural gas-fired, combined-cycle facility being proposed by Carlsbad Energy Center LLC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc. The project will be built on a 23-acre portion of the existing Encina Power Station in Carlsbad. Existing steam boiler Units 1, 2, and 3 at the Encina Power Station would be retired when the Carlsbad Energy Center Project is operational.

The PMPD, which was released in May, had recommended licensing the construction of the project. In June, the Commission had voted to reopen the official record for the project and hear new evidence on several issues. After the committee reviewing the Carlsbad project takes evidence on those matters, a revised PMPD will follow.